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- Free ports in the United Kingdom are a series of government assigned special economic zones where customs rules such as taxes do not apply until goods leave the specified zone. The theoretical purpose of such free ports is to encourage economic activity in the surrounding area and increase manufacturing. Critics of such schemes, including the parliamentary opposition, see them as possible tax havens and open to money laundering. The first free ports in the United Kingdom opened in the 1980s under Margaret Thatcher, as an attempt to combat de-industrialisation and a declining economy. Several free ports operated throughout the United Kingdom, however by 2012 the Conservative-led government decided not to renew their licences. As part of the 2021 United Kingdom budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced that eight new free ports would be created. They are East Midlands Airport, Felixstowe and Harwich, Humber region, Liverpool City Region, Plymouth, Solent, Thames and Teesside. (en)
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